Having just played yesterday, the Lake City Panthers will jump right back in to play the Scott's Branch Eagles at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in South Carolina (Lake City is ranked 209th, while Scott's Branch is ranked 193rd).
Lake City's 19-7 record from last season is now well into the rear view mirror after another tough outing. They were the victim of a tough 69-47 loss at the hands of Wilson Hall on Wednesday. Lake City has now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Bryson Rose put forth a good effort for the losing side as he dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten rebounds. He scored a full 34% of Lake City's points, the fourth time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Blayne Edwards, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds.
Lake City struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. That's the fewest offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, Scott's Branch scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Wednesday. They were the clear victor by a 62-42 margin over Timberland. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory Scott's Branch has managed all season.
Nyren Bowman and Nigel Lawson were among the main playmakers for Scott's Branch as the former dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten rebounds and the latter scored 16 points along with six steals. That's the first time this season that Bowman scored 15 or more points. Chris Barringer was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Lake City has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 4-8 record this season. As for Scott's Branch, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.
Thursday's matchup is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Lake City have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.7 rebounds per game. However, it's not like Scott's Branch struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 15 rebounds per game. Given Lake City's sizeable advantage in that area, Scott's Branch will need to find a way to close that gap.
Lake City and Scott's Branch were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting on December 6th, but Lake City came up empty-handed after a 57-56 defeat. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Scott's Branch's Jordan Kind, who dropped a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds. Now that Lake City knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
